Robert Bruce King is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Early life and education

Born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,444 at the 2010 census.-Geography:White Sulphur Springs is located at ....

, King earned a bachelor's degree from West Virginia University

West Virginia University

West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

 in 1961 and a law degree from West Virginia University in 1968.

Professional career

King worked as an active duty officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1961 until 1964. After graduating from law school, King clerked for U.S. District Judge John A. Field from 1968 to 1969, and then worked in private practice in Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...

 from 1969 until 1970. He worked as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1970 until 1974, and then returned to private practice in West Virginia between 1975 and 1977. King returned to government service in 1977, working as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 1977 until 1981, prosecuting a number of high-profile political corruption, coal mine fraud and drug cases during his tenure as the top federal prosecutor in the region. He then returned to private practice, working as a lawyer in Charleston from 1981 until his appointment to the Fourth Circuit.

Federal judicial service

President Clinton nominated King to the Fourth Circuit on June 24, 1998. He had the support of both of his state's senators at that time: Sen. Robert Byrd

Robert Byrd

Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...

 and Sen. Jay Rockefeller

Jay Rockefeller

John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985...

. "I could not be more pleased," he told the Charleston Gazette in an article that was published on June 25, 1998. "It's the utmost compliment to be recommended and supported by Sen. Byrd and Sen. Rockefeller. And the expression of support by President Clinton is the greatest honor of my life."

The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed King to his Fourth Circuit seat in a voice vote on October 8, 1998.

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